Entertainment

David O. Russell is a director on a hot streak, an audacious original with an affinity for edgy American madness. His dizzying, outlandishly entertaining "American Hustle" is a 21-first century screwball farce about 20th-century con men, scam artists and those who dream of living large, a film that is big hearted and off the wall in equal measure. As he demonstrated in his previous two pictures, "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Fighter," out of control people are Russell's specialty.

The impending departure of Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment from Paramount Pictures would seem like a blow to the Hollywood studio, which is suffering from a perception problem. The studio is making fewer films these days, and enjoying smaller market share. However, Pitt didn't make many movies for Paramount, and the Viacom Inc.-owned company has insisted it is comfortable with a new, leaner approach to the business. "Paramount's paradigm is a different model," said Richard Walter, a professor at UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television.

The city-owned Los Angeles Convention Center entered a new era Tuesday when a new general manager was named by the private company hired to run the facility. Anschutz Entertainment Group, which won a contract to run the center in October, named Brad Gessner to the post. He most recently served as general manager of the 2.6-million-square-foot San Diego Convention Center for six years. The L.A. Convention Center offers 720,000 square feet of exhibit space, 46,000 square feet in two event halls and 102,000 square feet of column-free space in a sky-lighted meeting room.

Brad Pitt's film company, Plan B Entertainment, has signed a production deal with New Regency and RatPac Entertainment -- an arrangement that precipitates his company's departure from Paramount Pictures at the end of the year. The pact takes one of Hollywood's hottest and best-known production banners away from the Viacom Inc.-owned studio and aligns it with crosstown rival 20th Century Fox. Plan B's first-look deal with Paramount expires Dec. 31. The production company has been based at the studio since 2005. ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll New Regency and RatPac will finance future projects from Plan B as part of a multi-year, overall deal, New Regency said in a statement Tuesday night. The company is based on the 20th Century Fox lot and has a long-term distribution arrangement with the studio.

Legendary Entertainment is expanding its television production repertoire by acquiring Asylum Entertainment, the firm behind the biographical miniseries "The Kennedys. " Legendary, the entertainment company controlled by film producer and financier Thomas Tull, announced Monday it had completed a deal to buy 100% of Asylum Entertainment, a 10-year-old production firm. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Asylum specializes in unscripted and scripted fare.

December 7, 2013 | By Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times Television Critic

In terms of mythology, it was Bonnie Parker who turned a small band of murderous thugs led by Clyde Barrow into the stuff of legend. Even as the Depression-era gang went on its murderous two-year crime spree, the idea of a female outlaw titillated a nation already prone to romanticizing criminals amid a failing economic system. When she and her lover died in a hail of gunfire, and photos of her posing with firearms and a getaway car were discovered, Bonnie became the pin-up girl for the hyper-sexualized archetype of the gun moll.

President Barack Obama put the klieg light on Hollywood Tuesday, crediting the motion picture and television industry for being an engine of growth and a bright spot in a recovering economy. "Entertainment is one of the bright spots of our economy," Obama told a crowd of nearly 2,000 people gathered at the Glendale campus of DreamWorks Animation SKG. "The gap between what we can do and other countries can do is enormous. That's worth cheering about. " Obama was hosted by DreamWorks Animation Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is one of Obama's biggest contributors and fundraisers.

Employment in L.A.'s entertainment sector rebounded last month, with the number of film and TV jobs rising 3.1% over the year before. Employment in L.A. County's motion picture and sound recording category - which covers the bulk of employment in the local film, TV and music industries - rose to 118,400 jobs in October, an increase of 3,600 jobs from October 2012 and nearly 2% from September, according to state employment data. The entertainment sector fared better than L.A. County's economy as whole.

If you are among America's well-to-do, you may have noticed that the airline industry has been rolling out the red carpet for you lately. For good reason. The number of affluent travelers has risen in the last few years, according to a report by the travel marketing agency MMGY Global and research firm Harrison Group. Defined as those with an annual household income of $250,000 or more, affluent travelers make up 6% of the leisure travel market, up from 4% in 2010, according to the report.

With the holiday season gearing up, more than a few of us will be hosting a festive dinner party, buffet or potluck. As pleasant as any holiday event may be, it seems like the moment someone rings the dinner bell, an otherwise civil gathering can turn into a stampede as guests mob the food table. Much as I like to keep my buffets casual and free-form, there are a few rules I always follow to keep the meal organized. Call it a little "buffet psychology. " Here are some tips: 1. Organize the food layout, with a definite beginning and ending.